Swim cap



y 1968 F. o. BUZZELLI 3,381,305

SWIM CAP I Filed Jan. 10, 1966 FRANK 0 5022544/ man/5 United StatesPatent Office 3,381,305 Patented May 7, 1968 3,381,305 SWIM CAP Frank D.Buzzelli, 28803 W. Nine Mile Road, Farmington, Mich. 48024 Filed Jan.10, 1966, Ser. No. 519,660 4 Claims. (Cl. 2-68) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A swim cap has a unidirectional valve formed in its surface,adapted to permit air to' escape from the space between the cap and thehead of a wearer. The perimeter of the cap is equipped with a specialband adapted to form an air tight seal with the head of the wearer. Inone embodiment the band is formed with a plurality of indentations whichact as suction cups. In the second embodiment the band is formed of anadhesive material. The valve and the band cooperate to evacuate air frombetween the cap and the head and thereby provide a Water tight protectorfor the head.

The present invention relates to swimming garments and more particularlyto an improved swimming cap.

Heretofore women have used various types of protective head accessoriesor caps to keep their hair arrangements dry and protected from theelements while bathing, swimming, sunbathing and the like. The desirablecharacteristics of a cap when utilized for swimming are that it providea watertight enclosure for the hair and in addition that the cap havesufiicient resiliency so as not to adversely affect an expensive hairarrangement.

The problem associated with the modern swimming cap has been to obtainan effective air tight seal that will not work itself loose when thewearer is actively swimming. The conventional cap has a sealing meansaround the perimeter usually in the form of a band that clings to thehead when the chin strap is secured. However, there is ordinarily aresidue of air remaining within the cap after it is donned. When thewearer immerses herself in the water in the process of swimming, thewater exerts a pressure on the cap that urges the residue of air outunder the band sealing the cap. As this air escapes, the opening in theband allows water to seep in which wets the hair.

The present invention provides an improved swimming cap that obviatesthe problem of residue air breaking the water tight seal when the headof the swimmer is immersed in water by providing a plurality ofunidirectional valves incorporated in the crown of the cap. When waterpressure on the cap urges residue air within the cap to escape, theunidirectional flap type valves located in the crown of the cap allowthe air to expel through the valves rather than through the sealedperimeter of the cap. The valves are designed so that while air canescape from within the cap, water cannot enter to wet the hair.

An additional improvement in the present invention over older typeswimming caps is reflected in an improved sealing means around theperimeter of the cap comprising a double band seal. The inner band isformed with a plurality of recesses that when urged against the surfaceThe present invention may preferably be embodied as either a permanentcap of durable material or as a disposable cap of inexpensive materialfor one-time use which can be utilized by travelers and the like.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a headcovering for swimming with an improved sealing band for maintaining awater tight enclosure.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a means forcaptive air within a swimming cap to be exhausted through unidirectionalvalves without breaking the watertight seal around the perimeter of thecap.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide aprotective head covering for swimming that can be embodied as either apermanent long wearing swim cap or as an inexpensive, disposable cap forone time use.

Still further objects and advantages will readily occur to one skilledin the art to which the invention pertains upon reference to thefollowing drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 depicts a preferred embodiment of the present invention showinghow it is worn as a protective head cover for swimming;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational side view of the preferred swimming capshowing the unidirectional valves;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view taken from the opposite side of FIGURE 2and with a portion cut away for purposes of clarity;

FIGURE 4 shows a cross-section view of the sealing band as seensubstantially from line 44 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 shows a cross-section view of a unidirectional valve as seensubstantially from line 5-5 of FIGURE 2.

Now referring to the drawings in detail, in a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, a swimming cap 10 is formed of a waterproofmaterial and is generally shaped to fit the contour of a head in amanner that is well known. Dog eared portions 12 are provided onopposite sides of the cap 10 that cover the ears of the wearer.Preferably a pair of straps 14 are attached to the dog eared portions 12that can be brought together under the chin and fastened together by asuitable fastening device such as the snaps 16. A single strap fixed toone dog car 12 and fastened to the opposite dog ear 12 may also be used.

A double band 18 forms the perimeter of the cap 10. The band 18comprises an inner band 20 formed with a plurality of indentations 24 onthe inner side so that when the band is urged against the surface of thehead, a suction cup effect results. The inner band 20 is formed so thatfor every indentation 24 on the inner surface, there is a correspondingbulge 26 on the back surface. The exterior surface 28 of the outer band22 in the preferred embodiment is smooth but it may be formed with anypleasing texture if desired. The enclosed inner surface of the outerband 22 is formed with a plurality of protuberances 30 which arepositioned so as to overlay the bulges 26. Upon donning the cap, thewearer fastens the straps 14 which urge the protuberances 30 on theouter band 28 against the bulges 26 thereby exhausting the air from theindentations 24 and creating a suction cup effect. The suction cupeffect causes the inner band 20 to cling to the surface of the headthereby sealing the head enclosed by the cap 10 from the elements.

In order to permit air trapped within the cap 10 to escape Withoutbreaking the seal formed by the double band 18, a plurality ofunidirectional flap type valves generally indicated at 32 are formed inthe crown of the cap 10.

FIGURE 5 shows a preferred valve 34. The cap 10 has an aperture 36formed in the crown. A flap member 38 hinged to the cap 10 is adapted tonormally lie over the aperture 36. Preferably the fiap 38 is formed asan integral part of the cap. When air within the cap increases to apressure where it will seek to escape from the cap due to some externalforce on the cap, the air will tend to raise the flap 38 sufficiently toexhaust through the aperture 36 rather than to seep through the sealingmeans provided by the double band 18. When the air has been exhaustedsufficiently tolower the pressure existing within the cap 10, then theinherent tendency of the flap 38 to close reinforced by water pressureacting against the external flat area of the flap will prevent waterfrom entering through the aperture 36.

The cup may be formed of any conventional rubber type material when along wearing swim cap is desired or of an inexpensive plastic-likematerial such as polyethylene film or the like if a disposable cap forone time use is preferred. In a disposable version of the presentinvention, the band sealing means may alternatively be comprised of asingle peripheral band coated on the inner side of a pressure-sensitiveadhesive of any well known type.

It can be readily seen that I have described a swim cap that efiectivelyseals the hair of the wearer from water and by means of a novel flaptype valve means for venting air enclosed within the cap allows a wearerto actively swim without worrying about water seeping through the sealand wetting the hair. The invention may be embodied in a durable longwearing version or in an inexpensive material as a disposable version.

It is to be understood from the foregoing description that variouschanges and modifications may be made without departing from the spiritof the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a swim cap contoured to fit the head of the swimmer, band meansoperative to urge the perimeter of the cap against the head of theswimmer so that the cap is sealed to the head; said band meanscomprising:

(a) an inner band connected to the perimeter of the cap, said bandhaving a plurality of indentations on the inner side of said inner band;

(b) an outer band connected along an edge to the inner band andoverlying the inner band, said outer band having a plurality ofprotuberances on the inner side of said outer band extending entirelyaround the periphery of said cap, said protuberances adapted to eachoverlay the back side of an indentation on the inner band; and

(c) a strap member connected to the inner and outer bands on one side ofsaid cap and adapted to stretchedly fasten under the chin of the wearerto the inner and outer bands on the opposite side of the cap so that theouter band urges the protuberances against the indentations on the innerband thereby creating a plurality of suction cup seals between the capand the head of the wearer.

2. The swim cap of claim 1, including a unidirectional valve meansformed as an integral part of the cap and adapted to permit air toescape from the space between the cap and the head of the swimmedthrough said valve means and to prevent water from enteringtherethrough.

3. The swim cap as recited in claim 2 wherein said cap has an apertureformed in the crown and the unidirectional valve means comprises: a fiatmember hingedly connected to the exterior of the cap and adapted tonormally cover said aperture, but to uncover said aperture when the airpressure on the aperture side of the flat member overcomes waterpressure on the opposite side.

4. The swim cap as recited in claim 3 wherein the flat member is anintegral part of the cap.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,520,049 12/ 1924 Beman 2681,746,477 2/ 1930 Howland 268 2,520,049 8/ 1950 Moore 268 3,026,5223/1962 Di Julio 226 X 3,070,805 l/ 1963 Bozocos 268 FOREIGN PATENTS701,073 12/ 1953 Great Britain.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Examiner.

